UK falls in love with the Christmas39 jumper SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2014 People enjoy the Christmas lights on the 700 block of 34th Street in the Hampden community of Baltimore, Maryland on Friday. The display called “Miracle on 34th Street” dates back to 1947 and attracts thousands of tourists each year. — AFP After big year, streaming tipped for new markets treaming has rapidly transformed pop “We’ve been around for seven years and mercial alliances. The music industry’s digital music’s landscape but even more dra- we have seen an absolute shift in momen- revenue from Latin America jumped 124 per- Smatic changes could be in store as com- tum,” said Nickhil Jakatdar, Vuclip’s chief exec- cent from 2010 to 2013, well above the global panies eye the vast, barely touched markets utive officer. “It’s the Wild West out there. A average, according to the International of the developing world. year and a half back, we barely saw any com- Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Spotify and its rivals were among the petitors, but now every day I wake up in the Spotify has entered 58 countries or territo- biggest music headlines in 2014 as streaming morning and see that a new competitor has ries but not several big Asian nations, where services quickly pick up new customers and launched,” Jakatdar told AFP. local services have sprouted up. also face intense criticism-most famously The most significant reason, he said, was Gaana.com-operated by Times Internet from pop star Taylor Swift, who was the year’s that mobile Internet access was quickly which is India’s biggest digital network and top artist on the US charts. becoming faster and more affordable, making owned by The Times of India newspaper Swift and other detractors accuse the serv- it feasible for a consumer of limited means to group-lets listeners browse through thou- ices-which allow customers to listen to as watch entertainment on his or her phone. sands of playlists, listen to radio stations and much music as they want at the touch of a Vuclip predicted a growing market for features offerings from the top-20 Hindi songs phone or computer-of poorly compensating videos that last between five and 10 minutes, to classical music. artists and hastening the death of the album. an ideal size to watch during a commute. India, set to surpass the United States as But the debate may soon change markedly Vuclip, which says it has 120 million users, the world’s second largest Internet popula- as streaming grows in emerging economies has also put an emphasis on making billing tion, can expect growth in digital consump- such as China, India and Indonesia-where simple for customers who may be unaccus- tion of music by some 22 percent each year album sales have never been a major revenue tomed to credit cards or complicated monthly until 2016, according to services company source for the world’s record labels. plans. KPMG. New Delhi entrepreneur Ravish Streaming could instead become a Chawla, 28, said that streaming saved him “leapfrog” technology like cellular phones Diverse tastes space. “Ever since Internet speeds improved, finding its way into the hands of a burgeoning Vuclip, which is not present in China, sees I’ve removed all digital music files from my middle class that never had a tradition of particularly strong growth in India, Indonesia, devices. Whatever the number of music files keeping recorded music, — in vinyl, CD or any Malaysia and Thailand, as well as Egypt, Saudi in your phone, it can never match streaming other form. Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. services’ archives,” he said. — AFP Sensing the market changes ahead, Warner But one challenge in emerging markets is Music last month reached a deal with China’s the diversity of tastes, with Hollywood fare-or, Tencent that includes streaming in the first for music streaming, Western pop-unlikely to such agreement for one of the three major meet consumer demand. As a result, compa- record label conglomerates in the world’s nies have to approach each market separately Singer Beyonce (L) and Lee most populous nation. for content licensing. Anne Callahan-Longo, General “The content that consumers care about is Manager of Parkwood ‘Wild West’ for entertainment typically very, very regional in nature. A per- Entertainment and #12 of One company that has noticed the rapid son in India cares about Indian content, and Billboard’s Top 50 Women In changes over the past year is Vuclip, a each state has its own market,” Jakatdar said. Music this year attend the California-based company founded in 2008 In contrast to Asia, Latin American nations 2014 Billboard Women In that provides music videos and other content. share more tastes in common and music Music Luncheon at Cipriani Vuclip leads the market for on-demand streaming services including Spotify, Deezer Wall Street on Friday in New video in emerging markets. and Rhapsody have been quick to form com- York City. — AP.